 | Outrage upon Outrageby JakeGint on July 27th, 2008 at 12:16 pm |
(20 votes, average: 4.45 out of 5)
Loading ...This is truly sick making… and I’m not exaggerating.
I just read this article about this fucking “Housing Relief” boondoggle bill passed over the weekend and “awaiting Bush’s signature” for Monday, and I felt, literally, sick to my stomach. I’d posit any sentient American taxpayer would.
Do the American people know what’s going on in their country? This is fascism, people, plain and simple. And all we are doing for Fannie and Freddie by increasing the loan size and “adding an affordable housing component” is cranking up their already gigantic moral hazard hammer another 1500 psi. When that shit comes down, we’re going to be like bugs under a brake press. Shorn and torn.
Here’s an excerpt — my apologies, but it’s all I can bear to re-post. Click on the link above for the complete nauseating steampile:
Many Republicans, particularly those from areas hit hardest by housing woes, were eager to get behind a housing rescue as they looked ahead to tough re-election contests. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson’s request for the emergency power to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped push through the measure. So did the creation of a regulator with stronger reins on the government-sponsored companies, as Republicans long have sought. (Yeah, and I’ll hold my breath for this last. –ed.)
Democrats won cherished priorities in the bargain: the aid for homeowners, a permanent affordable housing fund financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the neighborhood grants. (These “neighborhood grants, are basically $4 billion free boondoggle money to stupid banks for making bad decisions. They’re NOT for “the typical Dem (alleged) constituent, IOW. More money wasted! –ed.)
“This is far more than sending a bill to the president’s desk for his signature. It’s sending a message to the American people that the Congress of the United States — despite an alternative reputation — can actually get things done, and can work together to achieve a good result,” said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. (Sure, during an election year no short sighted assbuggery will be overlooked in the name of purchasing votes!– ed.)
You go to hell, Chris Dodd, you should be in jail!!
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No one cares Jake.
Everyone in this country is a bunch of stupid jackasses who barely have enough math skills to balance a fucking check book, let alone keep their government honest. Beyond math, their attention spans are equivalent to those of small ants, and therefore they never spend enough time on the issues to truly digest what is happening around them.
It is really very sad.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pmYou know what Shed, I used to think that, but I think that response is too easy.
If we really believe people are “too dumb” then we who have a (partial) clue need to do a better job of helping them understand what’s going on. As always, these “grand plans” will harm the dumb ones first (unless they were lucky enough to be born into the estate class). Therefore, they need to know where the whistling homo hammer of death is really coming from.
It’s not enough to throw up your hands, Shed. We all have a responsibility here — as citizens, if nothing else.
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July 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pmThanks for posting, Jake.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pmJake, if you believe it will harm the dumb one’s first, then you have your answer as to why nothing is being done to educate in order for them to understand what is going on.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pmJake,
I read an interesting article that while not directly linked to the “stupidity” thesis proposed by Wood, somehow relates.
Apparently, Americans “cluster” according to lifestyle/religion/political/economic reasons.
The result being that “everyone thinks as their neighbors” thus there is far less exposure to the “opposite idea”
This is a rather dangerous trend.
It promotes extreme viewpoints on all manner of topics.
jog on
July 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pmduc
Jake, I work among people who are educated. Most have Master’s.
I find I cannot even explain what is going on to them because they have not the vocabulary necessary to understand the circumstances.
Secondly, if I do get through to a few of them, they always throw up their hands, giving up, as they feel it is impossible for the average American to change anything related to wall street and finance of government.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pmDuc — that’s just human nature. I don’ think it’s exclusive to Americans.
That said, there are many, many exceptions. A former employee of mine is married to an architect, so they decided they wanted to purchase a house in the more architecturally interesting (ie, urban and old) part of town. As a result, they are literally surrounded by Obama! yard signs, even though their politics make mine look “Jimmah Carter squishy.”
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July 27th, 2008 at 1:29 pmWood,
As you know, I know some of those people in your immediate sphere. For most, it’s cognitive dissonance more than anything else.
If we can get them to “throw ALL the bums out” I think we’ve made advances.
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July 27th, 2008 at 1:32 pmThe funny part of this bill, which all the major news is announcing “something for everyone”, is the housing refinancing part of the bill; it is channeled through the bureaucratic method, meaning the earliest in effect will be dec 2008. However, few sources have said that it would take much longer than that.
So the authority that Fed wants (fnm/fre) and the “covered bond” method is top priority. The refinancing is in the bottom of the to do list.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pmI hope you’re right about cognitive dissonance Jake.
IG- they think the housing refinancing is going to help fewer than 500K families. That is fucking laughable.
Basically, the problems are going to work themselves out, as they should and always do, before any money is committed. Then, the money will just be channeled to pork projects. And you and I will pay the fucking bill.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pmJake,
“Paulville” in Texas, a community based solely for supporters of Ron Paul.
Now, nowhere else in the world is that likely to happen. Although apparently outside Moscow, there is a luxury development based on “traditional English” accoutrements, red post boxes, old style telephone boxes etc.
Politically, the US is highly polarised. Far more so than any Western democracy. Is this a problem?
Currently, it would seem so.
jog on
July 27th, 2008 at 2:02 pmduc
Highly polarized? We only have two parties that even matter.
I would argue we’re not polarized enough, and that diffidence is our political hallmark. That or “bread and circuses,” maybe.
The US is a big country, there are kooks all around. I don’t think you can extrapolate one example into a generalization about a whole people.
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July 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pmActually, I think this is only peripherally about mortgages, Fan, Fred, etc. Of course, it gives our illustrious governing bodies the chance to tell their constituents, ” Hey, Goddamnit, I’m doing SOMEThING over here”. Maybe they can raise their approval rating from 9% to 10%. Think of that. They actually have a lower approval rating than the dumbell-in-chief!! ( But I digress.)
July 27th, 2008 at 2:30 pmActually, I believe the real reason for the sudden ” Hey fellas, we better get something done.” is the rumblings that America is getting from the nether regions (BRIC) that they are tired of buying our worthless paper. “Hey now, you clowns said this Fan and Fred paper was backstopped by the G. If it ain’t ,fuck you we’re gonna stop buying all your inflation ravaged bullshit paper.” Of course, if that happens we are beyond screwed, blued, and tattooed, which we probably are any way, but that’s a story for another day. Cheers
[...] “You go to hell, Chris Dodd, you should be in jail!!” Posted on Sunday, July 27, 2008 by Jasno Read. [...]
July 27th, 2008 at 2:40 pmA buddy of mine told me this morning that he heard on Fox a day or 2 ago that 94% of bills “passed” by the Senate this year were NEVER voted on. Apparently there is a “presumed majority” clause that the Dems are using to pass bills without even holding a vote.
This is democracy? If you were against any bill you can claim “I never voted for it.” Because NO ONE voted for it.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:47 pmThe word “democracy” stems from the Greek and means “people-rule”, respectively, “rule of the people”.
The majority of terrestrial humans are erroneously of the view that the forms of “democracy” which are practiced on our planet according to the principles and the rules of play of terrestrial politics, are genuine forms of democracy in the literal sense.
But that is not the case because a true, direct democracy only occurs when all power, the authority to make decisions, and force, actually lies directly with the people.
Thereby the leading powers must directly be appointed by the people and must faithfully carry out its decisions.
Without exception all the decisions of the people must come about directly through a majority resolution and completely uninfluenced by any propaganda, and without prior consultations.
Other forms of “democracies”, as are usual on the Earth, are democracies in name only.
The fact and truth is that they are, namely, nothing other than party and government dictatorships which have deceitfully tacked the label “democracy” onto their lapels, even if they name it highfalutin names like “representative (national) democracy”, “majority democracy”, “consensus/concordant democracy”, “delegate democracy” or “deliberative democracy”.
Real democracy is only possible if the people stand together in unity and are conscious that they must take the responsibility into their own hands because they alone are the real and true sovereign of the state.
Yet, unfortunately the humans of the Earth have quite an enormous shortage of this consciousness as well as of the responsibility, and the feeling of solidarity and of unity, therefore also no true democracy can come about which even deserves this name.
Every individual is therefore jointly responsible for the reification, by and by, of true democracies because every human can and should always begin by himself if he wants to achieve something good and progressive.
Democracy means that the people, as one, determine the welfare of the country and the population - yet what is actually understood, dealt with and practiced as democracy by the people and by the governments is a form of policy which is governed disastrously, and antagonistically to the wellbeing of the people, by the state powerful ones and by a very stupid majority of the people.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:21 pmJake,
It’s not simply one example. It’s one example from quite a detailed research project.
Polarization it would seem is a problem. Polarization suggests extremes, fundamentalism, which the US has in spades when compared to say Western Europe.
Clustering promotes through exclusion, only one viewpoint. This is fundamentalism. Not a healthy paradigm for capitalism.
jog on
July 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pmduc
Duc, all due respect, but you’re obviously of the “socialist democrat” mindset. I haven’t seen your study (and you haven’t linked it) but I simply don’t buy that everyone thinking alike is a very good idea.
Everyone in the London intellegentsia (and a good portion of the political body) in the 70’s thought Maggie Thatcher was off her rocker. Even the Pythons mocked her, God bless them. Thank God she was able to prevail, though, no? A heroine who withstood the tide of common opinion.
Let people bind together in interest groups, according to their own agendas, I say. This is what makes America great.
And I believe your fear of “polarization” is media driven– they want everyone to think as they’ve dictated, anything else is “polarizing.” Pah!
There are fringes on each side of a bell curve, but the vast majority are not that different. The fringes give us perspective which we can inculcate into the whole, sometimes to our benefit.
When everyone is walking lockstep and singing kumbaya, like in Germany when the Obamessiah shows up, I get nervous. A healthy debate, governed by a respect for another’s opinion, and a healthy rule of law, is the best combination.
Bring on the diversity of opinion.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:48 pmActually, I believe the real reason for the sudden ” Hey fellas, we better get something done.” is the rumblings that America is getting from the nether regions (BRIC) that they are tired of buying our worthless paper. “Hey now, you clowns said this Fan and Fred paper was backstopped by the G. If it ain’t ,fuck you we’re gonna stop buying all your inflation ravaged bullshit paper.” Of course, if that happens we are beyond screwed, blued, and tattooed, which we probably are any way, but that’s a story for another day. Cheers.
This is an interesting theory (about the BRIC’s rumbling). However, if Congress or the Fed were really concerned about that, they wouldn’t be taking on a new guarantee that will only further devalue that debt in the marketplace.
I don’t think they give a fig or a phenning, and worse, they may even be intentionally wacking our debt held by overseas trading partners.
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July 27th, 2008 at 3:52 pmIts the relationship of lenders and borrowers thats at stake. Lending is a borrower’s headache. However, overlending is a lender’s headache.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:11 pmDodd should be investigated at a minimum for obtaining Countrywide “VIP” status for his mortgage and removed from the banking committee (which happens to be investigating Countrywide) pending the outcome.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:53 pmI’m not sure how it is going to work but if the borrower’s then default again will the Feds become a major property holder of SFRs via the foreclosure route? That would be good. More work for lawyers and more crack houses for the masses.
The real scary part is “unlimited power” for the treasury…This is going to cook our goose!
July 27th, 2008 at 5:08 pmThe democratic principle of freely forming opinions does not rule in the parties, rather it is a terroristic coercion of opinion and factions, which coerces the party members and assemblies into subjecting themselves to the will of the party bosses and sacrificing their own opinion to the dictates of the powerful ones.
One cannot say that the assemblies, in regard to their decisions, are only obliged to their own consciences, as the law intends.
After the elections the governments only seldom feel obliged to the people and the common wellbeing. They only feel obliged to the maintenance of their own power.
Critics and rivals, where possible, are excluded and are silenced by every means, one of which is character assassination.
In order to make the people amenable, the parties operate broadly aimed propaganda machinery, which is financed by state money, taxes, donations and concealed bribe money.
If, in the context of voting, the will of the people is asked for, then it is so confused and made insecure before time through “opinion-forming measures” that, as a rule, a majority decision fits exactly into the politicians’ concept.
Undesired voting results are taken into account by the political bigwigs with feigned tolerance and are immediately evaded when the people have forgotten everything and have fallen back into the desired indifference and lethargy.
If need be, they let the stupid people vote about the same point, always with “new presentations”, until the desired result presents itself.
When one regards, neutrally and without prejudice, the manner in which decisions come about in “democratically” governed countries, it is realised that the parties - as also with the malignant EU cancer growth - are, in truth, dictatorial power-mongers which suggestively influence the people, whereby they are no longer able to decide according to their free will.
The will of the people is simply criminally trampled over and ignored if it does not fit into the political Mafia’s concept.
The people themselves are, indeed, in great part, responsible for this grievance because a unified will of the people does not exist.
If, in this regard, there was unity among the peoples, then the logical result would be that politicians, governors and other responsible ones would have to produce evidence of their qualifications; the people would have to be able to immediately dismiss an officeholder if he evidently became incapable or unwilling to fulfil his office according to law and order.
“Politics is a pendulum between anarchy and tyranny, animated by a constantly rejuvenated illusion.” Albert Einstein
July 27th, 2008 at 6:04 pmWood and Duc are right.
Most Americans are stupid clusterfucks.
I try to tell Steve (my neighbor) how fucked he is, once per week (garbage night)and he has no fucking idea what I am saying.
It’s like I am talking gibberish.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:21 pmeverything is fucked
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while you may dismiss this statement as simplistic, profane and defeatist, its simplicity and accuracy can not be denied.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:50 pm“Jake, I work among people who are educated. Most have Master’s.”
Therin lies the problem. They spend 100k on an education that they could have gotten in a public library. Or even more convenient… google.
Being at school taught that there’s only one right answer, and that if you go to others for help it’s “cheating” can’t be good for real life comprehension.
We’re conditioned to think that more school is a good thing. Somehow someone that had 18 more years of school is superior then someone who drops out starts a business and becomes wealthy. If the conversation a some fancy dinner becomes “where did you go to school?” and the answer is “I didn’t”… There’s shock and “oh you poor thing” mentality or that tht person is in some way inferior. It’s rediculous that after so much schooling, the PHD assholes don’t have a clue how to think on their own. They have their head so far up their ass they’ll never make sense of anything. And no matter what they do in the real world, their textbook will not save them.
Just remember there are plenty of nobodies who think they are the shit, but compare all the geniouses of the world… Tesla had to drop out of college after 2 years due to lack of money
July 28th, 2008 at 9:17 amEinstein couldn’t make it through high school.
And Edison only had 4 months of schooling in his life.
And perhaps his IQ isn’t up there with Einstein, but Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to start some cute little computer business named microsoft… I hear it’s been fairly profitable.
Re:wood, you seem to have an axe to grind. Don’t let your own biases get in the way of a little communication.
See, my point was not about what education does or does not provide, but rather, in American society, even educated people do not typically possess the vocabulary necessary, or possess the fundamental understanding of the capital markets and Treasury system to make an informed decision about what is going on around them.
So honestly, keep grinding your axe, but keep in mind my comments had nothing to do with the value (or lack of) in schooling. My point was that even people who can read, write, etc. do not have a fundamental understanding of our system of finance. The implication then is how can we ever expect those who are not educated, who cannot read or write well, to understand how they are being cheated.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:27 amI try to tell Steve (my neighbor) how fucked he is, once per week (garbage night)and he has no fucking idea what I am saying.
It’s like I am talking gibberish.
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I wonder if this has anything to do with that time you gathered up a group of your trader servants and performing the Haka over the demise of his 401k? (Actual footage, below)
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July 28th, 2008 at 10:10 amJake,
“When everyone is walking lockstep and singing kumbaya, like in Germany when the Obamessiah shows up, I get nervous. A healthy debate, governed by a respect for another’s opinion, and a healthy rule of law, is the best combination.”
I agree.
This basically is my point. Debate is healthy.
Clustering, however, encourages like-minded-people to segregate themselves, thus insulating themselves from “healthy debate”
Our views on almost everything are polarised. Yet, by exposing ourselves to the others opinions etc, we temper potential excesses.
The study revealed that in clustering EXTREME views increased in prevalance, as, psychologically a positive feed-forward-loop was reinforced.
jog on
July 28th, 2008 at 12:22 pmduc